Effects of Individual Counseling on Anxiety and Depression among Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patients at Sichon Hospital, Nakhon Si Thammarat

Abstract

This quasi-experimental research aimed to examine the effects of individual counseling on anxiety and depression among newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. The sample consisted of 30 patients newly diagnosed with breast cancer receiving treatment at a general hospital, selected through purposive sampling. The research instruments included a four-topic individual counseling program (three face-to-face sessions and one tele-counseling session) and the Thai version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Data were collected at three time points: Pre-test, Posttest 1 (after topics 1–3), and Posttest 2 (day of hospital admission), and analyzed using Repeated Measures ANOVA.

The results showed that mean anxiety scores decreased significantly across the three time points (p < .001). Specifically, anxiety scores dropped from (Mean = 12.27, SD = 2.27) to (Mean = 3.37, SD = 0.62), and depression scores from 10.77 (SD = 2.30) to 1.40 (SD = 2.06). Clinically, significant anxiety declined from 73.3% to 6.7%, and significant depression from 50.0% to 3.3%, demonstrating the program's effectiveness in enhancing patients' psychological readiness for treatment.

In conclusion, the four-topic hybrid individual counseling program (combining face-to-face and tele-counseling) significantly reduced anxiety and depression in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients (p < .001), with marked clinical improvements across all three measurement periods. It is recommended that hospitals integrate this counseling model into standard care pathways from the time of diagnosis to provide proactive psychosocial support and prepare patients for complex medical treatments.